Yorkshire business can reverse innovation decline, says expert

Yorkshire has seen the biggest drop in businesses investing in research and development for growth according to the most recent U.K. Innovation Survey.

Against a 3% decline nationally, Yorkshire was the region with the steepest dip at 14%, according to the report by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

“The statistics are a wake-up call, but the good news is that we have all the individual ingredients in place to reverse the decline,” said Dr Martin Stow, Nexus Director at the University of Leeds’ new £40m innovation centre.

“The drop in our region takes us from a leading position, to one which is much more in line with other regions, with around half our businesses active in new product and business development.

“We want to lead the innovation march again, so our aim is to help more existing businesses, new enterprises and inspired graduates to access university research teams and resources, which will help them to realise the tremendous value of R&D in translating their ideas into market success.

“Individual lightbulb moments are still crucial to innovation, but ground-breaking ideas are increasingly about pools of talent, shared expertise and collaboration. We intend to be at the forefront of facilitating the growth of combined technology and innovation-led business growth across the region.”